Who uses double deeps as opposed to single deep or single deep and a super for the bee's own food...?
Are double deeps better for over wintering even when the winters aren't that bad down south or are doubles just a better way to get a good strong hive for max. honey production..? I'm to the point where I need to make some decisions one way or the other - I'm leaning toward doubles for max. population and the benefits that brings the bees.....
Can someone elaborate on this.....thanks.
Steve SC
There are no mystery in that question. Some take that as art.
I have both in Finland. If we have bad August, most of hives are over winter in one box and if they raise brood well in late summer 2/3 hives will be in two deeps.
I want dandelion yield when apples bloom. i-box hive is not able to build up to gather that honey. It takes 2 weeks more to develope.
5-frame colonies go over winter but in spring to wake them up is very painfull. 2-box hives are easy to nurse. They take care themselves.
Essential is that you do not leave extra space for winter. When you press colony to one box before feeding it for winter, so one box is good it they are all inside.
My 2-box hives have foraged now about 100 lbs honey and one box wintered have not much. They have not enough foragers.
I just counted that this days forager have been as eggs in the middle of May or before.
-- So it depens did you had 2 box filled with brood or a half box filled with brood 6 weeks ago.
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I have one hive in particular that was given to me about 2 weeks ago.
This hive is a single deep with 3 shallow supers on. The bees mass on the porch everyday and well into the night - I know the first super is completely full of capped honey - the second has about 70% capped and the third is being worked hard. Everytime I open the inner cover to check the hive the bees just pour out - it's very crowded - the inner cover is always cover with bees.
I'm thinking I need a second deep on this hive or take the full supers off and replace with empty ones. The honey should have been harvested before I got the hive. I haven't checked for brood capped in the brood box - I think I could do that when I take the supers off for extracting.
Another question: If you had a hive with moths in it and you had to take all the frames out - strip the comb out and put them in the freezer to kill any moth larva what do you do with the brood box to make sure it too is free of any larve...? I put it in the freezer also but is there another way to take care of the larva in the brood box..? Clean it good and paint it..?
Your thoughts on this..?
Steve SC
I actually don't use any deeps. But as far as what I have for the queen to lay in, she can have all she wants, as there is no excluder. As far as what I leave them for winter, that depends on the size of the cluster. I leave a hive anywhere from two to five eight frame mediums for winter. Two eight frame mediums equals one deep. Three ten frame mediums equals two deeps. A good queen can have brood in four or five boxes at once. I would not want to limit her.
I use two deeps up here in Massachusetts. I find that if I take the supers in August, then they will fill the upper deep with honey and the lower deep will be mostly pollen. They had plenty of food this year during our very mild winter. It's a good choice for me, but I live in a much cooler climate than you.
I would add a second deep or more supers to give them some room.
I use 4 mediums as my standard for a brood chamber then a slatted rack for bee space. I very seldom find eggs in the supers and since I use all medium 8 frames similar to MB, if and when it happens, I just move any brood frames into the 4 medium brood boxes--something that can't be done if varied sizes of boxes are used.
My recommendation is to use a size box that is handleable and use all one size for ease of operation and let the queen have as much room as she needs during the season.